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Miss Ellie Ewing
"Miss" Ellie Ewing was the mother of J.R., Bobby, and Gary Ewing. She was the wife of both the late Jock Ewing and Clayton Farlow. History Early Life Miss Ellie is the daughter of rancher Aaron Southworth, who instills in her a fierce pride in her heritage, deep-seated courage, and a strong belief in the strength of family. During the first half of the 1930s, Miss Ellie was the sweetheart of Willard "Digger" Barnes. When the Great Depression hit, Miss Ellie's family came dangerously close to losing Southfork Ranch, and Miss Ellie began dating Digger's business partner and friend, Jock Ewing, who had just begun making his fortune in the oil business and building Ewing Oil. On the day that her family was going to lose Southfork, Miss Ellie married Jock, as Jock was the only man in Dallas known to have enough money to save the ranch. While she initially married Jock to save Southfork and for Jock's dependability, she grew to love him and they remained married for well over 40 years until his death in a helicopter crash in 1982, although Jock's body was never found. The couple had three sons: J.R., Gary and Bobby. Life in Dallas As the years and decades pass, Jock builds Ewing Oil into one of the biggest and most powerful independent oil companies in Texas, and Southfork grew into a very successful ranch again under Jock's leadership. Jock takes over raising his eldest son J.R., showing him "tough love" and grooming him to be the heir of Ewing Oil, thus making him one of the most ruthless oilmen in the oil business. Miss Ellie has more influence on their second son Gary, who is Miss Ellie's favorite son, as Gary is more like the Southworths than the Ewings in loving ranching and the land over the oil business. Miss Ellie resents Jock's treatment of Gary, whom Jock considers weak, and Gary is regularly bullied by J.R., causing pressures which drive Gary to alcoholism, and to walk out on his family and baby daughter, Lucy. Jock and Miss Ellie's youngest son, Bobby, is Jock's favorite son, and is spoiled by both Jock and Miss Ellie. In 1979, Miss Ellie is diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoes a mastectomy, from which she fully recovers. In 1980, she learns that ranch foreman Ray Krebbs is Jock's illegitimate son from an affair with an Army nurse named Margaret Hunter in England during World War II. This revelation caused tension in Miss Ellie and Jock's marriage, as she felt that Jock had replaced Ray for their second son Gary. The tension almost leads Miss Ellie and Jock to divorce. However, they reconcile in 1981 and have a second honeymoon in Paris. Miss Ellie also accepts Ray into the family, though she is not his biological mother. Shortly thereafter, Jock goes to South America on a mission to help the U.S. government explore oil in the jungle. In 1982, on his return, Jock is involved in a helicopter crash and is reported to have been killed, although his body is never recovered. In 1983, Miss Ellie goes to court to overturn the terms of Jock's will, which set up a fierce and bitter competition between J.R. and Bobby for control of Ewing Oil. Miss Ellie loses the case after failing to convince the court that Jock was mentally incompetent at the time he wrote his will. Before Jock's death, Sue Ellen leaves J.R., taking John Ross to live at the Southern Cross Ranch near San Angelo, Texas, the home of her new boyfriend, rodeo cowboy Dusty Farlow (Jared Martin). In an attempt to steal back John Ross, J.R. takes Miss Ellie on a visit, where she first meets Dusty's father Clayton (Howard Keel). Later, Clayton and she settle a problem caused by J.R. involving Clayton's refineries. When Clayton helps Sue Ellen as she reconciles with J.R., Miss Ellie and he become friendly and eventually start dating. In 1984, Clayton and Miss Ellie marry, despite the attempts of J.R. and Clayton's sister Jessica Montfort (Alexis Smith) to stop the wedding. In 1986, a man named Wes Parmalee (Steve Forrest) claims that he is in fact her presumed late husband, Jock, who had actually survived the helicopter crash but underwent extensive plastic surgery which drastically altered his appearance. Miss Ellie is torn over whether to believe Wes' claims, and this puts a strain on her marriage to Clayton. Eventually, Miss Ellie tells her family that Wes told her that he was not Jock. In 1988, Ellie accepted her husband Clayton as co-owner of Southfork Ranch. In 1990, Miss Ellie and Clayton go on a tour of the Orient. While overseas, Miss Ellie decides not to return to Dallas because she is tired of dealing with all the headaches and heartaches from J.R. and Bobby's lives. She deeds Southfork to her youngest son, Bobby. Death and legacy Miss Ellie died in 2001 and is buried on Southfork. When her son J.R. died in 2013, Bobby's new wife Ann revealed that Miss Ellie had cut J.R. out of her will because "he was not a rancher", which greatly angered a bitter J.R., and left Bobby with enormous guilt. A final part of her will gave half of Southfork to her grandson John Ross Ewing III, to Bobby's dislike. Quotes "Great men are measured in the only true value of a man, not in money or power, but in friends." ---- "You never know what you can do until you try." ---- "I may never forgive you for this, JR" ---- "What I do or do not tell my husband is NONE of your business." ---- "Ray, get me the shotgun out of the hall closet." ---- "We may be wrong, we may be right, but we're Ewings, and we stick together. That's what makes us unbeatable!" ---- "I know that Jock's not coming back, but I have my memories of him, and my memories are forever." ---- "Other people have fought the Ewings before, and they've regretted it." ---- "You're a cold and insensitive man, JR, and I'm going to remove you as President of Ewing Oil just as soon as Bobby gets back." ---- "Don't you talk to me like that, JR. I don't think you give a damn about your Daddy's wishes. All you care about is YOURSELF. "I've got to break Jock's WILL." ---- "In the past I've put up with your games and tricks, JR. But no more!" ---- "I want this fighting stopped! Do you hear me? Or both of you get the hell out of this house and off this ranch!" ---- "What's between me and my husband is between me and my husband. And I'll work that out without guidance from my children!" ---- Gallery 240px-Miss_Ellie_Ewing.jpeg 240px-Donna_Reed_as_Miss_Ellie.jpg a868ce755bd3c2e989523676e7f3be3c.png Category:Ewing family Category:Original Characters Category:Residents of Southfork Ranch Category:Characters played by different actors Category:First Series Characters Category:The Early Years characters